Our Trader Joe's opened today and of course, I was so excited that I absolutely had to go today and didn't consider that I wouldn't be getting there until 5:30 and it would be MOBBED.

I didn't have time to shop the way I really would have liked to and I kind of just threw a bunch of stuff in my cart, but I did end up with their white bean and basil hummus which is love. The rest of my random grocery list - flatbread, TJ's frozen chickenless cutlets, frozen hash browns, gala apples (they were easily the most beautiful apples I had ever seen), bananas, kale, and wasabi wow trail mixy stuff. I'm not sure what's different or special about it, but I love that wasabi stuff. This bag may last me the weekend, but I kind of doubt it.

_________________"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave" - Mahatma Gandhi

I made the roast last night. It was yummy, but I agree that it was kind of mushy. It had to cook for about 5 minutes longer than it said it would, so plan accordingly. I really liked the stuffing and gravy too. I decided I'm not making it for Thanksgiving because I would have to make more stuffing for the omnis anyway, and I had another gravy recipe in mind already, but I will definitely eat this again.

The aseptic boxed tofu is really good. Way fresher and creamier tasting than Mori Nu. Mori Nu has a distinct taste to it that I don't really care for, and I can taste it in things when I make a sauce or pudding with it. But I think this Trader Joe's tofu will work great for that sort of thing.

I finally got the pea shoots that someone mentioned way back when and they are the BEST. I'm putting them in sandwiches, salads, tofu scrams - everything. Even absentmindedly munching them out of the box. I feel like a nerd for how much I love them.

On the other hand... can't wait for Candy Cane Joe Joes to hit the shelves. I'm gonna need to balance out all these greens.

I went there yesterday and the holiday foods were out (including the candy cane Joe Joes). I bought a box and I haven't even opened it yet. I am loving the red lentils they have there. I buy the red lentils, cauliflower and baby carrots and make the dahl from AFR. I love it.

New things I've tried lately- the toasted coconut chips. Soooo good. They are crispy pieces of coconut meat with salt and sugar. Crazy good. I tried the canned cinnamon rolls and, meh. Not worth the calories to me. The smoked almonds are insane. Like bacon almonds!

I'm not sure if anyone from the boards goes to the location in Rochester, but I looked it up on their website and it is the closest one to my house (I live up near Toronto!) - I'm thinking about making the drive down as a little road trip once their Christmas stuff comes out! I'll keep checking the thread for that but if anyone goes to that particular location and you see Xmas-y stuff, let me know, I'd really appreciate it!

I went to one near Cleveland while on another little trip over the summer and loooooved it and came home with lots of goodies - I wish we had TJs in Canada!

I liked the turkey-free roast much more than Tofurkey. I dunno, it was just more turkey-like to me. I think it would be fun to try it wrapped in puff pastry with some kind of vegan pate or something, like a Wellington, sort of.

I liked the roast way better cold from the fridge as leftovers than hot from the oven.

_________________No. No. fork life allatimes. - mumblesThat commercial didn't make me want to go out and buy Dove, but this thread did make me sniff my armpits. They smell like apricot. - designedtobekind

I liked the turkey-free roast much more than Tofurkey. I dunno, it was just more turkey-like to me. I think it would be fun to try it wrapped in puff pastry with some kind of vegan pate or something, like a Wellington, sort of.

Ditto. I liked the Turkey-less Roast, myself. With that said, I'm referring specifically to the roast - the stuffing is not good (but it rarely is in pre-packaged roasts, including tofurky; I'm not sure why they even bother), and I just threw away the gravy pouch because generally pre-packaged gravy is blech and homemade gravy is a million times tastier and very easy to make. It's definitely a Gardein "meat" - I thought it was a lot like the chicken scallopini cutlets. My husband thought it was very good - he ate over half of it, and he's an omnivore!

The only improvement I'd probably try for next time was a more browned top. The recipe on the box calls for rubbing the roast with a mixture of olive oil and smoked paprika and put back in the oven for another 10-15 min. While it helped with the presentation - the roast didn't look so pale, at least - it didn't really do anything to encourage browning. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to lightly brown the roast on the stovetop, either before baking or after - or maybe a quick blast of high heat with a bit of oil and perhaps even a baste with a bit of sugar. It seems that this kind of roast would be very prone to drying out, so browning technique has to take that into account (a lot like actual turkey.)

Overall, I liked this roast better than tofurky (tofurky gives me a stomach ache, for whatever reason), but my all-time favorite is still the Field Roast roast en croute, probably because pastry is delicious (duh) and the stuffing isn't bread-based ("sausage", hazelnuts, cranberry and ginger I think) and so holds up to the rigors of processing pretty well.

Also, SassyOh, I had the same thought re adding phyllo or pastry to the loaf - I think that might be our Christmas plan!